“You mean we’ve got to find him—­and destroy that letter—­”

“We’ve got to; that’s all.  He wrote us he had it, just to taunt us, and we’ve got to burn that up whether we find the girl or not.  But that ain’t all we’ve got to destroy—­that piece of paper.  You see that, don’t you?”

Neilson breathed heavily.  “It’s all plain enough.”

“I want it to be plain, so next time I want to let daylight through a man you won’t stand in the way.  It ain’t just enough to burn up that letter.  We’ve got to get the man who owns it, too.  If we don’t he’d still have a good enough case against us—­with a good lawyer.  Likely enough lots of people knew of their partnership, maybe have seen the letter—­and they’d all be good witnesses in a suit.  Our reputation ain’t so good, after that Jenkins deal, that we’d shine very bright in a suit.  Even if he couldn’t prove his own claim, he could lug out the will old Hiram left—­he alone knows where it’s hid—­and then his next nearest relatives would come in and get the claim.  On the other hand, if we smash him, the thing will all quiet down; there’ll be no claimants to work the mine; and after a few months we can step in and put up our own notices.  But we’ve got to do that first—­smash him wide-open as soon as we can catch up with him.  He’ll be way out in Back There, and no man would ever know what became of him, and there’d be nobody left to oppose us any more.  But we can’t be safe any other way.”

Neilson nodded slowly.  His subordinate had put the matter clearly; and there was truth in his words.  In Ben’s murder alone lay their safety.

He had always been adverse to bloodshed; but further reluctance meant ruin.  Ben was one whom he could strike down without mercy or regret.  And the blow would not be for expediency alone.  There would be a personal debt to pay after the long months of searching.  He could not forget that Beatrice was helpless in his hands.

“The thing to do is to turn back with Chan, at once,” he said.

“Of course,” Ray agreed.  “That plan of yours to get help in chasing ’em down don’t go any more.  We don’t want any spectators for what’s ahead of us.  Here’s grub and horses a-plenty, and we needn’t lose any time.”

So they turned back toward the Yuga, on their quest of hate.

XXII

Beatrice Neilson was a mountain girl, with the strong thews of Jael, yet she hid her face as the canoe shot into the crest of the rapids.  It seemed incredible to her that the light craft should buffet that wild cataract and yet live.  She was young and she loved life; and death seemed very near.